In a previous post on OT Elijah and NT Elias, I
addressed the criticism that Joseph Smith did not know that OT Elijah and NT
Elias were one and the same person, showing that this can be proven to be
incorrect; furthermore, I addressed a similar argument, that Joseph did not
know that OT Isaiah and NT Esaias were the same person, showing that there are “other
Isaiahs” (e.g. Jesaiah; Jesiah) in the Bible, so using the NT form of the name
to differentiate another “Isaiah” from the (more well-known) Isaiah
would be an acceptable convention to avoid confusion.
In D&C 84:10, we read:
And Jeremy under the
hand of Gad.
“Jeremy” (LXX/NT: Ἰερεμίας) is the NT form of the OT Jeremiah. Some
critics (e.g. Marvin Cowan, Mormon Claims Answered) have charged that
Joseph Smith was ignorant of this fact. However, there are multiple people with
the name “Jeremiah” (Hebrew: יִרְמְיָהוּ), such as Jeremiah of Libnah:
Jehoahaz was twenty and
three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in
Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of
Libnah. (2 Kgs 23:31)
Zedekiah was twenty and
one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. (2 Kgs
24:18)
Zedekiah was one and
twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Libnah. (Jer 52:1)
Alongside the prophet with the name Jeremiah, and
Jeremiah of Libnah, there are eight other individuals in the OT with the name
"Jeremiah":
A Benjamite solder (1 Chron 12:4)
Two Gadite warriors (1 Chron 12:10, 13)
A chief from the tribe of Manasseh (1 Chron 5:24)
The father of Jaazaniah (Jer 35:3)
A Priest sealed with others in a covenant with God
(Neh 10:2)
A priest in the days of Joiakim (Neh 12:1, 12)
A leader who took part in the dedication of the wall
of Jerusalem (Neh 12:34)
There is nothing improper with Joseph Smith using “Jeremy”
to differentiate a person with the same name as the more well-known prophet
with the same name to avoid any confusion.
